Managing Change
by Galadriel1010
Summary: A NaNoWriMo novel charting the rise of Yvonne Hartman and her professional relationship with Jack Harkness and Torchwood Three. Eventual Jack/Ianto
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** I am writing this as a second NaNoWriMo novel. It will be very fast, I hope fairly long and probably a bit... chaotic as a result of these. It will also be posted sporadically, at a guess, because I'll be travelling from Cairns to somewhere further South. Wish me luck!

* * *

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: WTF

Jack,

Have you heard the rumours going around? Or even confirmation?They're saying that Ryan's dead, or at least seriously injured at Albion Hospital. It's chaos here, scuttlebutt flying in every direction.

Let me know if you hear anything.

Love, Yvonne.

* * *

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: RE: WTF

They've just called me to tell me that he's been hospitalised and that there's nothing to worry about.

And they just called Worrall at UNIT to tell him that Ryan's dead. Don't know what to believe at the moment, but I do know that I don't believe what they're telling me.

Keep your head down, but make yourself useful.

Jackx

* * *

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: RE: RE: WTF

I'll make the tea, shall I?

Still no news, but I've offered to take to the phones in the main office because they're ringing madly. Phone again. Here we go...

Captain Mace of UNIT. Heard of him? Nope, me neither.

Yvonne

* * *

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: It's true

We just got the confirmation. Everything's gone very quiet.

Since when did Torchwood leaders die in action?

* * *

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: RE: It's true

Shit.

That's definitely a shock. I guess we'll know the full story by morning, hopefully. Seems like only yesterday he was an over-enthusiastic departmental runner sent to look after me. That must be over thirty years ago, because it was when Melissa was a baby and Lucia was on maternity leave. He was coming up for retirement, wasn't he?

I don't know about London, but I die in action every other day. Do you think I should apply to head office to get the medal of honour that they give to all personnel who die in the line of duty, protecting Queen and Country from alien threats? (Yeah, I can't remember what it's called.) Surely I've died for them often enough by now.

Got to go, there's Weevils above ground again. Look after yourself.

Jackx

* * *

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: Well... uh

They're closing the office except for essential staff for a 'mourning period', also known as 'working out who's in charge'. I've offered to stay here on the phones to fend people off whilst they discuss it; do you think that's the right thing to do?  
Have they got in touch with you to ask you to discuss it? I'm guessing they've frozen you out again. Typical.

This place is eerie when it's empty, almost like the whole building is in mourning.

Yvonne.

* * *

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: Answer your damn phone!

They've got me trying to call you now, but I told them that you've had an emergency, so I'll get through to you when I get through to you. Call me as soon as you can, okay?

Yvonne.

* * *

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: Arrangements

Attachment: Bookings

Hey Jack,

Glad to hear you're both okay. I've emailed the details of your trains and your hotel reservation. Travel safely, get some sleep on the train, and I'll see you here tomorrow.

Yvonne.

* * *

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: RE: Arrangements

Thanks Yvonne,

You're a star, and I don't know what I'd do without you. Can I steal you over here to work for me?

And can I invite you to join me in the hotel bar for a couple of drinks? Torchwood will foot the bill. I could do with someone to drink with tonight.

Jackx

* * *

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: Drinks

I'll pick you up from the station. I can persuade them that I need to be at the hotel to check you in and make sure you behave.

See you at the station

Yvonne.

* * *

The Asquith Bar was quiet and relaxed compared to the others. Deep, plush sofas and armchairs clustered around low tables in intimate groups, all upholstered in shades of deep red, vanilla or soft orange. The shelves behind the bar were lines with expensive bottles of whiskey and spirits, with the shelves separated by chalk-board wine lists. The bar itself was wood panneled and topped with glittering black marble from which empty glasses were removed before they could begin to mar the high-shine surface.

Small groups sat in the clusters below expensive paintings, leaning close together so that they could talk in low voices whilst sipping their expensive drinks and watched the time until they had to leave for tonight's social engagement. Jack settled onto the sofa next to Yvonne and picked up the glass she nudged towards him. "Cheers. Thanks for coming."

"I'm being paid to wine and dine you," she smiled and raised her glass to him. "How could I possibly refuse?"

He returned her smile with less enthusiasm and took a sip of his whiskey. It had been standing long enough that the ice had started melting, and cold water softened the crisp bite whilst highlighting the smoky flavour. "Do you want the job?" he asked at last, apropos of nothing.

Yvonne narrowed her eyes and swirled her wine in her glass. Long, well manicured fingers held it as steady as her gaze at him. Whilst he waited for an answer she brought it to her lips and left a lipstick mark on the rim, then rested the glass against her knee. "Why me?"

"Why not you?" he shrugged. "You have the ambition and drive to take it, the self awareness to cope with it, and the intelligence to take it forwards. They never take from the top ranks for the new directors."

"Okay," she nodded and looked down into her wine. "Still... why me?"

He chuckled, showing dimples and laughter lines. "Because I trust you, and I think you're good enough to do it."

She took another slow sip of her wine, letting the flavours roll over her tongue and loosen her thought processes. He watched and waited patiently for her, as only he could wait. Oh, she'd known him to get bored waiting for her to order a meal, or on that shopping trip she'd dragged him on when she got her promotion to admin that had culminated, prematurely, with a speed-boat ride up the Thames and ice cream; but when it mattered, his patience was like hot fudge sauce: slow, soft, warm, and impossible to deny. "I can't deny that it's an appealing prospect," she conceded, and he nodded his concurrence. "And my position is such that this is the only chance I'm going to get for the directorship, although I could attain greater power if Magnus got the directorship and I got the Head of Field Responses."

"You'd get the weapons," Jack agreed. "But the research department is going to be increasingly important and valuable, and it'll start wielding more financial power if the next conference approves some of the developments they've been working on."

"You make a good point." She watched light glittering on the chandelier above Jack's head, warm golds and oranges against the cold blue-silver crystal. "But that's a lot of responsibility."

"So is driving," he pointed out. "But not many people pay attention to their responsibilities unless you put a flag one them, preferably make them dance. Naked."

She laughed. "Jack, I don't know what to do with you."

"Tell me you'll be my CO," he suggested. "I could do with an ally, and Cardiff is too important for me to leave."

"Oh, here we go," she sighed, rolling her eyes and chuckling. "How bad is it at the moment?"

"Same as usual," he shrugged it off. "Ryan hated my guts, shrank the budget when it was down to just me and wouldn't increase it when I found Suzie. I can't afford to take on anyone else and maintain our network and systems at current levels, and I can't reduce them without putting people at risk. But unless I hire more people..."

"I didn't realise it was so bad," she admitted. "What did you do to annoy him?"

Jack pouted, which wasn't as effective as he'd probably hoped. "This is Ryan. Pissing him off requires meeting him on a bad day. Running one of the other offices and not being entirely... Well, I'm interesting to Torchwood and occasionally non-compliant with the rules and regulations."

"I wasn't aware you actually knew what rules and regulations are," she told him scornfully. "You make them up as you go along and everyone knows it. There'd be none of that on my watch."

"You can try. I'll ignore you if you try to enforce them," he warned her. "Rules don't work when the game is changing daily."

She shook her head and waved her glass at him. "There has to be structure to the rule breaking, at least."

"Of course there is. But no one has yet been prepared to meet me on it." He studied his now empty glass and gestured to the bar with it. "I need a refill. Do you want another glass whilst I'm up?"

"Thanks." She checked her glass and smiled winningly. "Bring the bottle?"

He laughed and got up to head across to the bar, leaving her to consider what he'd said. Torchwood needed leadership that had development and continuation in mind. They needed to push forwards on research and shore up the defence teams. Large areas of the country needed to be covered by fast response teams, and the offices in old parts of the empire needed to be abandoned as unmanned research stations or redeveloped, depending on their usefulness. She'd be lying if she said she'd never thought about it, about what she would do if she were in charge. She'd be lying if she said she didn't think she'd do it well.

Jack collected his glass and a bottle of wine from the bar and wound his way between the furniture to return to her. She shifted back on the sofa to make more room for him and held out her glass for him to refill it. "Someone's been thinking," he commented.

"I do it occasionally; you might like to try it." She smirked at him and raised her glass. "Cheers."

"To the future director of Torchwood?" Jack asked.

She licked her lips and nodded. "To the future director of Torchwood."

Jack sat down and touched their glasses together. "Good luck, sweetheart."


	2. Chapter 2

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: Advice

Rules of engagement for getting to the top at Torchwood:

Make Queen and Country your priority.

Make Torchwood an even higher priority

Keep an open mind to using Torchwood's knowledge for furthering Torchwood's power

Plan for every contingency, and then the ones you haven't thought of. And then the ones that happened in your nightmares.

Read everything that comes across your desk, and everything else you can get your hands on. Financial reports to trashy science fiction novels

Never turn down an opportunity for socialising and networking. Meet as many people as you can.

Keep fit and healthy. Cut down on the chocolate caramel biscuits and walk to and from the train station on your way into work. I'll have my eye on you

Don't shag people. Shagging your way up the ladder does not work.

Dress to impress – yes, I'll take you shopping, but this time we're going serious

Don't mention my name. It won't help. I'll mention your name enthusiastically; you mention mine scornfully if you have to.

Rules of being Director:

Don't get cocky

Really, don't get cocky

Read as much as you can – Starting with Pratchett's Discworld, if you've not already read it.

Form committees – preferably made up of people who annoy you

Go to bed for at least ten hours every night, eat well, and exercise to make up for it.

Don't. Get. Obsessed. Shiny stuff is for researchers with safety procedures

Don't piss off the neighbours. That includes me and UNIT.

Trust the Doctor.

Don't annoy the Queen. It's really annoying when she cuts your budget.

Avoid timetravel like the plague, and lock it down if it happens.

Rules of getting on with Torchwood Cardiff, particularly it's devastatingly handsome and roguishly charming leader.

He likes chocolate cake

He likes good whiskey

They like their information on time and useful

Cardiff is a fantastic city

Don't annoy Mainframe. She hacks back.

Print them out and frame them. I'll even autograph it for you next time I'm in town.

Jackx

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: RE: Advice

Gee, thanks.

Nice, simple, non-patronising rules to follow, Jack. How many times have you done this now?

Yvonne

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: RE: RE: Advice

I've only been doing this since the turn of the millennium, remember.

Jackx

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: RE: RE: RE: Advice

Been around since the turn of the last millennium, if the stories are true, but still haven't learned how to communicate with people without pissing them off.

From: Jack

To: Yvonne  
Subject: Sorry?

You're unusually tetchy. Are you pre-menstrual, or am I? Or is power getting to you already?

The rules are sarcastic, but I've had a long time of watching people fucking up, and this, right here, is the closest I'll ever get to being able to put it right, because no one ever listens to me.

We lost five civilians today, because Suzie and I can't handle Cardiff between us and, quite honestly, you are my only hope of this situation getting any better. I'll use any means necessary to keep the people of this city alive. I think you'll make a damn fine director, but that only really matters to me if you let me do my job.

Jack

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: Point taken

I should apologise. You're the expert and you're trying to do what you always do, save lives. That's my first priority too, and I should recognise that we're singing from the same hymn sheet.

If I make it to the shiny top office, it will be my honour to bring you back onto the committee where you belong.

Yvonne xxx

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: Cessation of hostilities?

We were both a little out of order. I'll accept your apology if you'll accept mine. Friends?

Dinner?

Jackx

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: Again?

You only saw me last week; you'll give Suzie a complex.

Yvonne xxx

From: Jack

To: Yvonne:

Subject: Yes, again

But this time I suggest that you come to us, so the three of us can go out together. I might even treat you to some beat practice.

It'll look good on your CV.

Jackx

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject:You

You are a hopeless creature, possibly depressingly so. There is no chance of rehabilitation or reintroduction to polite society.

I would love to have dinner with you. Should I wear something nice, or something street safe?

Yvonne xxx

From: Jack

To: K. Arwan

BCC: Yvonne

Subject: Request for personnel assistance

Good afternoon, Kashif,

We've had a particularly heavy week here in Cardiff. I need to requisition a member of your staff or two to cope with the increased workload – not like you're using them over there at the moment.

Try Hartmann in the main office; I think she's sweet on me, so she'll be more amenable to braving the lousy Welsh weather we're having.

Yours sincerely,

Jack Harkness.

Director, Torchwood Cardiff

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: Sweet on you?

You are so up yourself, it's amazing you can even see. Shall I come over Friday?

Yvonne xxx

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: Sweet like candy

Everyone's sweet on me.

I just got my wrist slapped for using work as flirting, so I've sent him a shirty email about the death toll for this week and the difference between a jumped up administration office and a front-line defence outpost, and which one should have more staff.

People I do not have time to deal with today:

Grieving families

Kashif Arwan

Street preachers.

See you Friday.

Jackx

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: Instructions

You are really, really stressed out. Here's a set of Yvonne Hartman instructions for helping you to relax before tomorrow.

Leave the Hub and buy a really big slice of chocolate cake and/or hot chocolate

Go on from hot chocolate and have an hour's swimming

Get an hour's massage

Call a rarely-seen friend and invite them to dinner

Check into a hotel room, with or without friend, and have a nice night in luxury. Best to check in before step 2, to get the spa at the hotel.

Or:

Check into a hotel room

Hire a boy or girl to pamper you all night and give you a night of fantastic sex and decent sleep.

Your choice. And I don't want to know the outcome in minute-by-minute detail, thank you. I have my own sex life, and it's a lot more active than yours.

Yvonne xxx

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: I love you too

Going for a modified version of option B, because you're not around to wine, dine and pamper.

Ciao, bella

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: Tempting

You nearly had me tempted to move to Cardiff then, but then I remembered the 'Cardiff' part of the idea, and the temptation vanished. Sorry, babe.

Have a good night.

Yvonne xxx

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: Last night

Was lovely. Thank you for giving me ideas, and remind me to buy you a drink when you're over here. Has that been confirmed yet?

Jackx

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: Friday

I'll remember, don't worry. It's all confirmed and ready to go. I got my orders this morning. Of course, the rules state that I can't book my own accommodation, so I got Annie to book me into the St David's.

Yvonne xxx

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: RE: Friday

Well, of course. It is the closest and most convenient hotel to the Hub. Well, the closest and most convenient hotel that I'd put guests in.

Hopefully they'll complain about it, and I'll say that we'll organise accommodation for our guests if they give us a bigger budget to do us with. We wouldn't need guests as often, either.

Jackx

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: RE: RE: Friday

Are you saying that you wouldn't want me to come over as often? I'm very hurt, Jack.

Pissing off the director like this before she's even the director might not be a wise move.

Yvonne xxx

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: Perish the thought.

I was merely pointing out that we wouldn't need as many visits from office staff to audit us if I could afford to employ someone to do it, and to tidy up the archives so that London can get information from us on time and so that we can find the information we need when we need it. And we wouldn't need to borrow researchers and technicians to fix the network or poke at our new tech if we had our own. And we wouldn't need to spend as much on private hospital fees and bribing government officials if we had our own medic. Suzie and I are good, but we're not god.

You would, of course, be welcome any time you wished to visit, but I would make a clear distinction between visits in your capacity as my Director and those visits which are purely sociable in nature, which I would, naturally, pay for myself.

Actually, I might buy another flat. I've nowhere to entertain at the moment, and my social circle is actually increasing at last. We could have dinner parties, or tupperwear parties.

Jackx

P.S. We could have Ann Summers parties too...

P.P.S. You'd be top of the guest list. VIP.

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: Oh dear

I'm sorry, but I don't think men are allowed to come to Ann Summers parties; not even men who like men.

Yvonne xxx

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: How cruel!

That's blatant discrimination. I'll have you know that I look extremely fetching in a black and silver satin babydoll with matching french knickers... and the stockings...

Jackx

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: You

I am aware of how good you look in that selection, dear. They're on the public drive accessible by all Torchwood One employees. Very, very nice indeed.

Yvonne xxx

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject:

They're what?

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject:

Didn't you know?

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: No

They must have been there for years without my knowledge. I'd never have let photos like that out in public, you know that.

From:Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: I'm sorry

I've deleted them and had a word with the IT guys I'm friends with to make sure that they get deleted off the system completely. I never even considered it. I'm so sorry, Jack.

Yvonne xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: Don't worry about it.

It's done now, and there's nothing either of us can do about it beyond what you've done. Thank you for that. They'd blocked access from my end, which is why I didn't know about them.

Someone put those up there and kept them from me on purpose.

Jackx

From: Yvonne

To: Jack

Subject: Awful

I can't believe anyone would do that. Is common courtesy such an ancient concept that people can't contemplate it any more?

Yvonne xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

From: Jack

To: Yvonne

Subject: RE: Awful

I'm used to invasions of my privacy by Torchwood. I gave up all hope of privacy about one hundred and five years ago.

Friday can't come soon enough.

Jackx

Jack's favourite restaurant on Mermaid Quay during the summer was an Italian place that did superb pasta dishes, mediocre pizza and excellent wine, all served, if you reserved a table or got lucky, on the balcony which overlooked the new development and the wide expanse of the Bay. The staff there knew him and Suzie by now, and understood that if they ran out with their meal half-eaten and their bill unpaid then it would get paid later with a hefty tip added on. They, like many other Cardiff residents, coped with the reality of Torchwood without realising it, going about their everyday lives with slight flexing to allow for aliens they didn't know they were avoiding and to make it easier for an organisation they didn't know were in trouble. Human nature was Torchwood's greatest weapon.

Yvonne settled down into the chair that Jack held out for her and exchanged an amused smile with Suzie, who'd claimed her seat before Jack could give her the same treatment. But Jack loved to play Prince Charming occasionally, and Yvonne didn't have the heart to deny him the chance. They ordered pasta based on Jack's advice and let him debate wine with the waiter to match it perfectly with the meal. Sometimes it was hard to remember that Jack had been on the planet for longer than anyone else. Sometimes it was very easy to remember, and hard to feel anything other than young and foolish. He knew so much, mostly things that he'd picked up through experience rather than actual study, and he very rarely seemed to realise it. Right now he was showing off, of course, but he had two attractive ladies depending on him for the right wine to go with their meal.

There was a gentle, cool breeze off the Bay, which served to ease the dry, oppressive heat of the day that had been brought by one of Cardiff's occasional heatwaves. They'd spent the day 'pounding the beat' as Jack called it, usually in a dreadful imitation of a cockney accent. There were resident aliens, known conspiracy theorists and collectors and dealers who occasionally, by chance or design, found something not of this world amongst their goods; they all needed checking up on, as did the numerous safe houses scattered around the city now. Some of them were in use, home to people displaced by the Rift who'd just skipped a few years by accident and needed somewhere to start afresh, but most stood empty and cold, even in this weather.

Yvonne leaned her elbows on the wood of the tabletop, keeping them well clear of the sun-heated metal, and rested her cheek on her clasped hands. Jack was slouched back in his seat like every artist's dream muse, shirt sleeves rolled up above muscled forearms and eyelids at half mast, turned into the warm rays of the sun that lit him in gold and bronze. Across from him, Suzie was a more angular beauty, with the sun behind her catching in her curls and casting dark shadows across her face. Her quick, dry wit was the perfect underscore and foil for Jack's bawdier, innuendo-laden humour. She brought to mind the elegant, empty beauty of the sky at night over a too-bright city, against Jack's golden glow of a summer's afternoon.

Jack was smiling at her, possibly even smirking. "Penny for them," he asked.

She laughed and shook her head. "Jack, you know you couldn't afford them."

"I like her," Suzie announced seriously. "Jack, can we keep her?"

"Unfortunately not," he lamented. "London would get very annoyed if we tried, and we're in enough trouble as it is. Besides, we can't afford her salary."

Yvonne frowned as a thought returned to her and lifted her head. "Jack, have you thought about ways you could solve your funding problem without London's help? Get ahead, as it were?"

He shrugged. "Thought about it, sure. I don't really have the time to take it very far, though."

She raised one eyebrow in a question. "Have you thought about renting out the empty safe houses?"

"Would London let me?"

"Worth an ask, don't you think?" she asked, grinning.

They returned to more terrestrial topics when dinner arrived, mostly discussing Jack's flat search. He was, as Suzie and Yvonne eagerly pointed out, a very simple creature; the fact that he'd been living in the Hub for so long was all the corroborating evidence they needed on that score. But really, it was no wonder that even he had eventually started craving his own space. Torchwood had taken his life and free will away, there had to come a point when he had to take something back.


End file.
